The death
occurred of Comrade H.L. Khurana on 26th February after a short illness. He was
born in Mandi Bahuldin, District Gujarat, West Punjab. As a schoolboy he was
given the responsibility by the Congress Party of looking after the requirements
of the family of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. H.L. Khurana completed his schooling in
Lahore. From his student days he identified himself with the CPI. With the
partition of the country he and his family migrated to Delhi where they faced
grave financial difficulties. H.L. Khurana had to combine support of his family
with his studies in the Camp College established for refugees by Punjab
University. In 1948 he joined service as a clerk in the Indian Railways. In the
1950s he was the party organiser in the All-India Loco Running Staff
Association. After the infamous Kalka Firing Incident where several railwaymen
were killed he was removed from service for the first time. In 1962 he became a
founder member of the CPI-led Northern Railway Worker's Union. With the split in
the CPI he identified with the CPI(M). In 1974 H.L. Khurana became a member of
the National Coordination Committee of the Railway Struggle and was arrested on
14th May prior to the Railway Strike of that year. The Store Division of the
Northern Railway of whose union he was the convener did not open their shutters
for ten days. For the second time H.L. Khurana was sacked which led, once again,
to severe financial hardship. Only the advent of the Janata Party to power in
1977 led to his reinstatement and his becoming a gazetted officer. As a result
of his exemplary probity and integrity he was given appointments in sensitive
posts. In his union work he eschewed narrow economism and infused democratic
values in the workers' movement. He was known for the interest he took in the
grievances of the scheduled caste workers and for his staunch defence of the
principle of reservation. In November 1984 during the massacres of the Sikh
community he undertook measures to ensure the safety of the community in the
vicinity of the Sabzi Mandi Railway Station where he resided. He retired after
38 years of service in the railways and thereupon undertook the responsibility
of office secretary in the Delhi state committee of his party. The onset of
perestroika provoked a number of nagging questions in his mind about the
negative developments in the USSR. Finding that his queries did not lead to any
serious response he determined to leave the party. He now began the distribution
of progressive literature in Delhi University. He had the objective of creating
a democratic culture amongst the student youth, particularly for the
Hindi-reading students. In his activities he strove to widen the social basis of
the communist movement and to create a progressive scientific and secular
understanding amongst the youth. This work culminated in the founding of a
bookshop which became a democratic centre of the campus. In addition H.L.
Khurana organised the sale of democratic literature at the progressive
functions, the workers' and peasants' rallier as well as publishing popular
scientific literature. These efforts never broke even in financial terms and to
cover the losses he had to regularly dip into his pension. In this period H.L.
Khurana moved over to communist revolutionary positions on the major political
questions, always upholding the heritage of Lenin and Stalin and the
revolutionary stream in the national movement. His persistent questionings on
perestroika led to the reprinting of an article on this subject from the
Albanian newspaper Zeri i Popullit in 1990. He took great interest in
the orientation and contents of each issue of this journal. He is survived by
his daughter Vipin. Revolutionary Democracy lowers the red banner in
honour of the memory of Comrade H.L. Khurana.